My Garmin is on its last legs 😢 so I need your input/recommendations please

[Irishprincess]

My current Garmin (Forerunner 220) is dying fast and I need a replacement quickly. Its battery life has been shortening for months now but I always seem to have got away with it on my runs. I kept meaning to look for a replacement but never got around to it but I now need to look pronto! Yesterday, even though it was fully charged, it gave me a warning after about 6K which is absolutely no good for longer runs.

I’ve loved this model but it’s now discontinued, otherwise I would just have replaced it with the same one. But it has lasted me for eleven years so I reckon it has done me proud! I want to stick with Garmin and have been looking at what I should go for next.

The basic 55 sounds appealing. I don’t want loads of stats and bells and whistles, just the pace, distance, cadence and the interval training option.

My question to those of you who have a Garmin, especially the 55. Do you like it? Any drawbacks? What about other models? Anything worth looking at?

Many thanks everyone.

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon]

Hi IP, I LOVE my pretty Vivoactive 5. It’s a Santa gift to replace my lovely Vivo 3 who was 6 years old. His battery wasn’t great, and his elevation/HR stats were a joke, but he was a wonderful watch.

This new one is fab and does all I need it to, with no rude “unproductive” messages, no getting lost deep in the menus (had those with my FR 255 which I sold), and it’s lovely and accurate.

The only downside - not to me - is that it’s mostly touchscreen. No issue here, but if you fiddle with your settings whilst running, I know some people don’t like using touchscreens with gloves/sweaty hands etc. I don’t touch my watch while running, so no issue.

Happy shopping! 😀

Garmin Vivoactive 5

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Thanks for that Munks. Sounds great. Not sure about the touchscreen thing though. Is it easy to set off? But I’ll take a look 👍

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon in reply to Irishprincess]

They’re definitely Marmite, touchscreens, IP, but there are buttons on the side to start/stop activities, so it’s very easy to navigate. In fact when I had the short stint with the FR 255, I got myself way more lost with all the buttons it had!

[nowster Metric Marathon]

All depends on what you want! I have the FR955, but I do like to delve into the stats, etc.

For most the FR55 or FR165 will do more than you want.

Leisure watches (like the vivoactive range) tend to have slightly less battery life than the sports watches.

Given the choice between the MIP (LCD with backlight) or OLED displays, my own preference is for the lower power and less pretty MIP ones which have excellent visibility in strong sunlight. (Overdriven OLEDs can develop burn-in effects.)

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to nowster]

I’ve been looking at the 165 too and like it. Thanks for the tips 👍

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to nowster]

I’m having problems with my Garmin Express on my Mac and I’m thinking that might be a problem for the watch too. I’ve read that I wouldn’t be able to use Garmin Express on an iPad or iPhone and will need a computer. Do you know if that is true?

[nowster Metric Marathon in reply to Irishprincess]

Garmin Express is only Mac or PC. You don't need it, though, except for updating maps on the models with on-watch maps.

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to nowster]

Ok, thanks for that.

[SueAppleRun 10 Miles]

How sad to have your watch fading but at the same time exciting to be looking for a new one. I gave my daughter a forerunner, the cheapest basic model a couple of birthdays ago, she loves it but isn't allowed to wear it at work so is now looking at the rings. It gives her plenty of stats .I have a venu 2+ and it's a lovely watch, that plays music and answers the phone too, but doesn't give me training status, probably not a bad thing with my lack of fitness, I've been looking at the forerunner 965 and the fenix 7 but realise I don't need that level of stats really.

I think you can't go wrong with Garmin so it's mostly about budget and how many stats you want. Have fun looking

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to SueAppleRun]

I do feel sad Sue. The watch and I have done some miles together 😍 and had great adventures. But onto a new chapter now.

It’s just a pity that I can’t go to one shop and see them all in real life! I don’t want anything too big on my wrist so that’s another factor.

[nowster Metric Marathon in reply to Irishprincess]

The Forerunners do tend to be sized for guys, and typically the chunkier the watch the bigger the battery inside it. Swings and roundabouts!

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to nowster]

True. One of the reasons I chose the 220 was that it was a bit smaller than some of the other models.

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon]

I went for the Forerunner 55. I don’t use all of the functions; in fact nowhere near all of them! The big difference for me is that I don’t set a distance; I just set it to run and stop it when I reach the distance I am aiming for. It does suggest runs, but you can scroll through that(I always do!) If you choose a timed run, the clock displays the selected time and counts down to zero. There are 5 buttons rather than 4 on my original forerunner. So, takes a bit of getting used to, but I am happy with it. You will be able to get a better tune out of a 55 than I can 🙂. I do get the occasional random message which says “you seem stressed.”…I wasn’t until I got the message grrrrr😡

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

Does it give you messages then? I guess they all do now. I don’t want messages. Like you, that sort of message would stress me more too

I’ve never set a distance on my Garmin. Not sure my 220 could. I’m a simple soul so want a watch to match 😊

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Irishprincess]

In fairness it doesn’t give me many messages; it doesn’t buzz regularly with “helpful” advice. It suggests what run I might like to do, but I ignore that (I run longer than it suggests usually). If I lost it or damaged it, I would buy a straight replacement. 👍

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

That’s a pretty good recommendation then 👍

[UpTheStanley Half Marathon]

I changed from a 35 to a 55 when a strap connector sheared - I get by using a fraction of its capabilities but preferred the 35’s simplicity.

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to UpTheStanley]

Agreed; I guess the 55 is just as near as we are going to get to the 35, sadly.

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to UpTheStanley]

Thanks for that UPS 👍 It’s looking more likely to be a 55.

[CosmicBuffalo 20 Miles]

I have a 55 and am really happy with it - only thing I have noticed is that it runs the battery a bit when cycling.

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to CosmicBuffalo]

My cycling is indoors so that won’t be a problem for me. Thanks for the feedback 👍

[Daiwalker Marathon]

It's a bit beefy but I went for the Garmin Fenix (6 at the time). Very expensive but I'd bought cheaper kit before this which kept failing. It's true to say "buy cheap, buy twice". The battery life on this watch is insane. If I turn of heart rate monitor, on full charge, it will last 45 days. I've used it to track 100km non-stop walks and it has lasted the distance. It's a brilliant bit of kit.

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Daiwalker]

That’s a brilliant battery life. But then any battery life is better than my Garmin atm 🙄

Don’t think I need something so technically advanced, I’d probably get lost around all the functions 😂 but thanks for the feedback.

[nowster Metric Marathon in reply to Daiwalker]

I remember my old Casio digital watch. It lasted several years on a single coin cell. How times have changed!🤣

Not sure what my FR955 will do if you turn everything but basic watch functions off (it estimates 20 days). In reality I'm getting about a week between charging it (from about 30-90% charged) even with a mix of run sessions in there, even though it's about 2½ years old now.

(You get more life out of a lithium battery if you don't fully charge or discharge it: the ideal figures are to keep it between approximately 20% and 80% most of the time. It's OK to charge it to full occasionally.)

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to nowster]

That’s interesting about keeping the charge between 20-80%. From memory, when my 220 was in full health, I charged it every 2/3 weeks but then it depends on my run mileage. I dont wear it all the time, just for running.

[Curlygurly2 Half Marathon]

Have you contacted Garmin? My FR245 recently developed a fault with the charging port, they replaced it for £100, I thought that was reasonable. Not sure how that would work with a discontinued watch, but worth a shot I'd say.

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Curlygurly2]

As the watch is eleven years old CG I’m sure it’s now past its prime. How old is your 245?

[Curlygurly2 Half Marathon in reply to Irishprincess]

It was 3 or 4 years old, so out of warranty. If it had been under warranty they would have replaced free of charge. It's always worth speaking to them, they might give you a nice discount on a newer watch. Their customer service is very good.